THE TRANSITION

THE TRANSITION; CHRISTOPHER AND ASPIN NAMED FOR STATE DEPT. AND PENTAGON

By GWEN IFILL,

Published: December 23, 1992

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Dec. 22—
President-elect Bill Clinton selected Warren M. Christopher as Secretary of State and Representative Les Aspin of Wisconsin as Secretary of Defense today, making them the two anchors of a foreign policy team that draws heavily from the last Democratic Administration.

In a news conference here today, Mr. Clinton also nominated R. James Woolsey Jr., a 51-year-old former under secretary of the Navy and arms negotiator to be Director of Central Intelligence, Anthony Lake, 53, a professor at Mount Holyoke College, as his national security adviser and Madeleine Albright, 55, a political scientist, to be the United States chief delegate to the United Nations. 'No Longer a Simple Place'

In his comments today, as in the appointments themselves, Mr. Clinton shed little new light on his foreign policy views.

"We must act to curb the spread of weapons of mass destruction, to counter terrorism and to prevent the degradation of our global environment," he said in a voice rendered hoarse from seasonal allergies. "The world is no longer a simple place with clear choices. As we enter the 21st century, American foreign policy will require steady hands, bold new thinking and the strength and courage to advance our American values." [ Excerpts from the news conference, page A14. ]

Except for Mr. Aspin, 54, all of the major appointees Mr. Clinton announced today served in President Carter's Administration. In reaching deep into the Democratic Party's stockpile of foreign policy experts for his Cabinet, Mr. Clinton, a former Governor who during his campaign sought to prove his credentials in foreign affairs, seemed to signal a preference for experienced professionals over the younger generation of foreign policy intellectuals. Emphasis on Teamwork

Indeed, in contrast to these intellectuals, who have produced a growing body of philosophical writings on the world after the cold war, those on Mr. Clinton's national security team have disclosed little of their views on the major foreign policy issues facing the United States.

Instead, Mr. Clinton seemed to choose the group more out of a sense that it would work together as a team, avoiding clashes that have often characterized relations between the Departments of State and Defense, or between the Secretary of State and the national security adviser.

In selecting Mr. Aspin, who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Mr. Clinton turned once again to Congress to fill a critical position in his Administration. Mr. Aspin said his primary challenges will be coping with reducing the size of the military while maintaining readiness in a changing global environment.

"The Clinton team faces a big job with a big payoff for America and I am proud to be part of it," Mr. Aspin said.

Mr. Clinton has already selected Senator Lloyd Bentsen, the Texas Democrat who is Finance Committee chairman, and Representative Leon E. Panetta, the California Democrat who heads the House Budget Committee, to major economic posts. Representative Mike Espy is still considered the leading contender to become Secretary of Agriculture.

Mr. Christopher, 67, is a Los Angeles lawyer who was Deputy Secretary of State under President Carter and has become a close Clinton adviser as well as his transition director. Priorities of Administration

He said his appointment today was a "dream come true" and said Mr. Clinton was right when he said that domestic and foreign policy concerns must hold equal sway now that the cold war has ended.

"In confronting these new challenges, we must remain cognizant that a great power requires not only military might but a powerful economy at home, an economy prepared for global competition," Mr. Christopher said. "In today's world, that means that foreign policy and domestic policy must be addressed simultaneously, not sequentially, or else neither will be successful for very long."

Mr. Clinton also used his national security appointments to demonstrate his commitment to what Vice President-elect Al Gore called the need "to build a bipartisan base of support for diplomacy through strength and for an activist U.S. role in the world."

Mr. Woolsey is a conservative Democrat and confidant of both President Bush's national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, and Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia. A retired army captain, Mr. Woolsey worked as Mr. Scowcroft's chief aide on a commission he headed in the early 1980's that recommended development of the mobile, single-warhead intercontinental ballistic missile known as the Midgetman. Posts Still Unfilled

If he is to meet his self-imposed Christmas deadline for announcing all of his major Cabinet selections, Mr. Clinton must still appoint an Attorney General, an Interior Secretary, an Agriculture Secretary and a Transportation Secretary. He said today that there was a "good chance" he could meet that deadline but that some other Administration jobs, presumably on the White House staff, would not be filled until after the New Year.

A new possibility for either Attorney General or White House counsel might be Zoe Baird, the general counsel for Aetna Life Insurance in Connecticut, who met with Mr. Clinton here earlier this week. Vernon Jordan, the transition chairman and the only man who had been thought to be under consideration for Attorney General at one time, has taken himself out of the running for any Administration job, a senior transition official said.